


Somewhere In Between

by inductionandceramic



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 07:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14744550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inductionandceramic/pseuds/inductionandceramic
Summary: Seungcheol needs to buy new clothes. He gets more than that.





	Somewhere In Between

Seungcheol stepped out of the escalator, entering into the men’s section of the store. He had never been here, usually preferring other brands with sportier and more casual clothes, also not as expensive as the one where he was now. 

He was amazed by how good looking the people buying here were. They all mostly looked like models, and those who accompanied them (the apparent boyfriend or girlfriend) were just as stylish, each couple following a particular trend.

He felt a little lost, there were so many coats and pants and shirts and he didn’t know which combination would look good (everything appears to be overly formal for his job –thank God he doesn’t need to wear a tie, although he knows it might just be because he isn’t used to the style).

Seungcheol needed to buy an office wardrobe for his first formal office job. It’s not that he lacked common sense in what looked good and what not, but his style choices had only shifted between jeans and a T-shirt and the the typical (and only one he owned) suit and tie for very formal events like weddings, funerals and job interviews. 

In between checking some coats of dubious design and material, something catches his eye. At first he notices him by the way his short black hair frames his face (his profile to be more exact). Then he sees his face quickly before turning away. He doesn’t want to be a creep and always feels like he is too obvious when people watching; it’s better to try not to make eye contact. Unlike Seungcheol himself, he looks comfortable moving around the racks of clothes, not picking anything yet but also intently looking at the shirts. 

Seungcheol moves closer to the table with pants in the middle of the aisle and takes in the figure of the other. Even if he didn’t look taller than Seungcheol, he was definitely thinner. He was wearing a big light brown hoodie and black skinny jeans paired with black combat boots. Seungcheol would always say he liked men, without exceptions, full stop. He could look at a person and find something that made them attractive (a physical or a personality trait) and wasn’t especially concerned about pursuing a specific kind of person. But (if he had had a type) this guy right here was definitely his type with his long legs and cute face and quiet aura. 

Seungcheol was feeling like a stalker now, moving around and doing as if he was interested in the clothes near him every time the other man moved. However, two things were happening at the moment: he had a task (buy at least two pairs of everything for his new job) and he wanted to ignore said task for the longest time possible. He decided to just look at the other man for as long as he shopped, or until he felt too guilty to keep doing it (which he calculated wouldn’t be long anyway). He knew he wasn’t throwing lewd or hungry gazes at the other’s ass, but still knew that what he was doing could be considered a tad inappropriate. 

After a minute, the other man looked up and locked his gaze with his Seungcheol’s for a second. Or maybe less than that, since Seungcheol avoided it. He decided to just drop it and focus on buying his own clothes. Every now and then however, between picking up a blue shirt and another equally uncomfortable looking pink one to try on, he kept looking at the other. He didn’t want to shift the blame, but he was just too confused at how many choices there were, and the other was just too good looking so that his attention just fixed on him. 

Out of the blue however, hiding behind the pants rack (were these too formal for him? He wasn’t ready yet to spend his nonexistent salary on something he might never wear later), he saw the pretty man sigh and lift up his head from the black leather jacket he was checking and looking directly at Seungcheol. Seungcheol tried to avoid it, but he could still see the other moving decisively to his side. Before he could escape, he spoke.

“I’m sorry, can I help you with something?”

Seungcheol was stunned. Later he would remember the shock of hearing him speak for the first time, how masculine but yet soft he sounded. Even if he was showing himself as confident, you could see he wasn’t an aggressive person by his tone (or at least was choosing to not act aggressive against him). Despite this, right now Seungcheol could only feel ashamed and a little afraid at having been caught. He didn’t want to cause a scene, so his brain told him to do what he heard men do in most undesirable situations (usually when getting caught in an affair). So he made his own sloppy version of “This isn’t what it looks like”. 

“What? No, no. Why?” That’s when he realized he screwed up even before the other talked, since making a question obviously prompted an answer. 

“I noticed you’ve been looking at me and following me for the last ten minutes, so I want to know why.”

Damn that was direct. His dark almond shaped eyes looked at his own expecting an answer, mouth tight and not forming a smile after speaking. He knew he could still go the denial route, even the “this is a free country and I can do and look at whatever I want” route, acting angry at being approached by a stranger. But again, he wasn’t the type to make a scandal and decided that maybe, being sincere would be better. Or as sincere as he could be without being a creep. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry”, he said downcasting his eyes at the shirts he was still holding. “It’s just that I’m buying clothes for a new job, and I’m really lost. I just saw you and thought you had great style and wanted to see what you were choosing. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Sorry.”

He looked at the other, who opened his mouth slightly in surprise. He just wished the cute guy would go away so he could escape from this hell of a shop, go to the farthest McDonalds and eat his sorrows away before trying again to buy overpriced clothes. 

“Oh… I see. That’s bad. So when do you have to start your new job?”

Seungcheol wanted to hide under the table. He realized the stranger felt guilty about confronting him for staring and was taking pity on him. He wanted the conversation to end soon and escape from the uncomfortable situation. 

After saying on Monday, the guy laughed at him. 

“You really are a last minute shopper.”

“Hey, it’s not that I don’t have anything at all. I did go to the interview after all.”

He was laughed at again, but he felt a little more relaxed. At least he wasn’t getting screamed at, and the laugh was pretty cute too, all small and white teeth with thin fingers trying to cover his mouth. 

“Well... I could help you if you want me to? To choose some clothes I mean.”

Seungcheol couldn’t believe his luck. He was really offering to help him shop. He would be able to speak more with him and buy stuff that (hopefully) actually fitted him. But he couldn’t sound too eager, maybe he was just saying it out of compromise. 

“No, please, it’s OK. I’ll manage. I’m sure you have things to do, I didn’t really mean to bother you.”

“It really is no problem. I was just checking some stuff. Tell me what you had in mind and I’ll help you. I’m Yoon Jeonghan, by the way.”

Just like that, Seungcheol had a name to match the face, which had a pleasant little smile now, the hardness his eyes held at the beginning of their conversation gone. 

“Choi Seungcheol.”

After they started talking and walking together he reconfirmed his first impression that Jeonghan was pretty, the way his black hair brushed his chain, how he moved it behind his perfect ears, even his eyebrows were nice. After choosing together some shirts (ditching the ones he had previously picked up), pants and two coats he tried them on, amazed at Jeonghan’s ability not just to match the outfit but to find the right size for it. 

“Thank you so much Jeonghan. You helped me so much, I could have never found these without you.”

“It really is no problem. Also, since the weather will be cold soon, I think you should buy a winter coat.”

Jeonghan was right in assuming Seungcheol didn’t own one. He just had normal jackets which didn’t really had a professional vibe, but he didn’t want to splurge so much money so soon, so he had to reject Jeonghan’s idea.

“Don’t worry, besides I have to go now. But you can text me if you want and I can help you choose a good one.” 

If this had happened to adolescent Seungcheol, he wouldn’t have gotten the signal and would have lost his opportunity, which was actually quite clear and ready to grasp. Right now however, he just tried not to look like he won the lottery, or was actually offered to have the number of this handsome, handsome stranger.

After exchanging their contacts, Seungcheol thanked him again for the help and Jeonghan began to leave the place.

“I’ll go now, write to me later!”

And with that, he left Seungcheol in the queue to pay for his new items (which he didn’t realize until the cashier told him the final price that they were more expensive than he thought; he had just accepted whatever Jeonghan chose and tried it on). 

Jeonghan. He didn’t even need to be asked to be texted; Seungcheol was already planning on inviting him out soon, hopefully somewhere better than the male section of the department store. Until then, he would keep thinking about him, the guy with the long hair and long legs and cute smile.

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any grammar errors, typos or just things that you think can be improved, let me know! I'm all for constructive criticism.


End file.
